


Stupid Tailfin

by IronGut



Series: HTTYD Plasma Shots [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 16:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20029066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronGut/pseuds/IronGut
Summary: What if Hiccup and Toothless on a random exploring adventure, happen across a genie in the ruins of some civilization, and between them are granted three wishes total.  First wish Hiccup makes is for dragons and humans to understand one another, and so with a snap of the fingers, they do.  Everywhere Dragons and Humans suddenly begin to realize what each other are saying and start talking to each other.  The second wish Toothless blurts out that he wishes Hiccup had his foot back.  And with another snap of the fingers, the genie makes it so.  Hiccup is so happy, as is Toothless, and wants to return the favor.  "I wish Toothless had his tailfin back!"    "WHAT!?  WAIT!  NO!"   *SNAP!*





	Stupid Tailfin

“In thanks for freeing me. I will grant three wishes of whatever you both choose.”

Hiccup and Toothless stood aghast, staring at the genie before them in the ruins of the long dead civilization the two had found on their most recent adventure, Hiccup holding the lamp in his hand, disbelieving at what he was seeing. He gulped and thought for a moment as to what it was he wanted, but only a moment. He knew what he longed for most in this world.

“I-...” He trailed off for a moment, looking to the night fury by his side, who gave a warble and a tilt of his head, curious and expectant as to what his rider’s wish might be, having heard the Genie speak in a way he could understand as well and thus knowing full well what was going on. “I wish dragons and humans could understand each other. ALL of them… Everywhere.” The genie nodded and raised up his hand, thumb and finger pressed together. He gave them a snap, and he declared.

“It is done.”

Hiccup turned to Toothless with wide, eager eyes, staring at his longtime partner as he stared back. The dragon took a moment to size up his rider before he finally spoke. “Did it work, Hiccup?” The boy gasped and suddenly was struggling to breathe as his wide eyes began to well up with joyful tears, his body trembling.

“Y-yes, Toothless! It did!” He cried out in exuberance, barely finishing his word before he was tackled down by the night fury, licked across his whole face and chest by the dragon, who was just as filled with glee at the idea of being understood by the humans at long last. There was so much to say to all of them! So much to teach them and so much to learn at the same time! He couldn’t have possibly thought of a better gift to be given to either side than that wish. It didn’t take Toothless long to think of a good one to pay back his rider however.

“...my turn?” He asked Hiccup when the barrage of affection had finally ended, the dragon still standing over top of the smaller human, who was grinning ear to ear and nodding back in confirmation that the next wish was Toothless’ to make. The dragon turned his gaze to the genie and smiled. “I wish Hiccup to have his leg back!”

Hiccup’s expression quickly turned to shock and disbelief as his dragon used up the second wish on him. The Genie nodded again and snapped his fingers a second time, and it was done. Hiccup looked down at where his prosthetic used to be, and tilted his foot back and forth in amazement. “Bud… You-... you didn’t have to do that for me!” He looked back to his smiling friend, who couldn’t have seemed more at peace with his choice for a wish. He didn’t even acknowledge the idea that Hiccup wasn’t worth having his leg back, even if he didn’t miss it all that much. Toothless wanted him to have it again, ever since the day of his biggest regret, when he wasn’t quite fast enough to save any more than “most of him”...

“Your turn.” Toothless simply said with the biggest of smiles.

Hiccup smiled back, apparently there wasn’t going to be a debate about his leg, and he knew it. Besides, there was still one wish left to make, and payback, while usually a bitch, in this case seemed only fitting instead.

“I wish Toothless had his tailfin back!” He beamed as he made his final wish, eager to pay back his friend.

  
  
“What?! _ WAIT! NO!!!_” Toothless cried out in a panic.

*SNAP*

* * *

_ Six Months Later _

* * *

Toothless slumped as soon as he landed next to the forge, shuddering at the empty feeling between his shoulders and wings. He took a deep breath and put on his “happy face” for Hiccup as he stepped into the forge like he always made sure to do since getting his tailfin back, he didn’t want Hiccup to notice how sad he was. In the seconds after the genie snapped his fingers and vanished, there was a long drawn out silence between the two, followed by a rushed and panicked night fury swinging his tail over and fanning out the fins a few times, letting out a whimper and hanging his head. Of course Hiccup immediately regretted his decision, he should have asked first, but he had no idea why Toothless didn’t want this. Even today, he doesn’t truly know why, because when he asked Toothless why he tried to stop this and why he was so sad, the dragon lied. “Be-... Because…. Because there was so many other wonderful things we could have used that last wish on instead.” Toothless thought fast to cover up the real reasons. “We-... We could have asked for… for like other night furies to find Berk… Or for an accurate map of the entire world… or… something…. I… I was ok with the fake fin Hiccup…” Leaving unspoken the words that followed in his head. “_ I preferred it, actually… _”

Today was the day he’d admit to the lie though, because he couldn’t stand to put up the facade any longer. The dragon had a plan, but... he’d need Hiccup to understand before he would go through with it, and the plan would go a lot better too with Hiccup’s help if he was willing to give it. Steeling his nerves, Toothless poked his head around the corner of the smithy, finding his rider hard at work on a new set of blueprints for some invention or another, he didn’t much care at the moment, except for the fleeting thought that the invention wasn’t for his flight anymore, which shot a flash of pain through his chest. “H-hiccup?” He stammered as he tried his best to stay at least neutral, his efforts at “happy face” today an utter failure the very moment he laid eyes upon his rider.

“Hey bud! How were the air currents today?” The question drove yet _ ANOTHER _ dagger through the dragon's heart. “_You should know firsthand instead of me having to tell you, Hiccup…_” He thought only to himself and instead replied out loud in the shortest and most curt of answers possible.

“They were fine…”

Hiccup set down his charcoal pencil and slowly turned to see the night fury’s drooping wings and slightly hanging head, his efforts to remain even neutral today were dismal, instead Hiccup could see him gently trembling and almost hear his pounding heart among the quietness of his drawing room. Within seconds Hiccup had abandoned his desk and knelt down to wrap up his best friend in the tightest of hugs. One which made the night fury bark in surprise but sigh gently and whine with his exhale as Hiccup asked the inevitable. “What’s wrong bud?”

“Hiccup… I know you might worry I’m crazy when I ask you this, I promise you I’m not. I just… I need your help with something, and I need you to know I’m _ completely serious_, _ okay?_” He looked at his Hiccup, now holding the dragons head in his gently cupped hands, worried and attentive. Hiccup nodded and watched Toothless’s eyes, the dragon was near crying and looked so very scared. What on _ Earth _ was he about to ask?!...

“Hiccup… I need you to amputate my tailfin…” Toothless spoke quietly.

“What?!... Bud, _ why?! _ Why do you need me to amputate your tailfin?! There’s…. There’s not something _ wrong _ with it, is there?!” Hiccup suddenly was in a bit of a panic as he rushed to the dragons side and pulled the tail over into his chest to examine it, Toothless helping swing it over for him even as he whimpered and shook his head.

“No… there’s nothing wrong with it… n-not in the way you’re thinking about…” Toothless clarified somewhat, watching Hiccup finish his rushed examination and look back at the dragon, whose head was turned around to look at him with sad eyes at Hiccup’s lack of understanding. Honestly though, that was his fault, for hiding the truth for so long. Of _ course _ Hiccup wouldn’t get what was wrong with it.

“I don’t understand… Toothless, what do you mean, not in the way I’m thinking about? That implies there _ IS _ something wrong with it!” Hiccup watched the dragon as he went silent, uneasy on his paws, the dragon equivalent of biting one’s lip and Hiccup knew it. “Toothless, what’s going _ on?_... Please bud, talk to me… Is it hurting? Did the genie make it the wrong shape somehow? Is it feeling weaker or something? Toothless, what’s wrong with your tailfin?” Hiccup sounded more and more desperate with each line as Toothless’s heart rate skyrocketed, threatening to burst through the scales on his chest if he didn’t come out and say it.

“IT’S _ THERE!!_” The dragon finally cried out, breaking into tears and his lip jaw quivering as he yelled. “_WHAT'S WRONG IS THAT IT’S THERE!!!_” He collapsed onto his front and trembled as he squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in hard breaths, one after another, covering his face with his paws.

* * *

Hiccup knelt by his dragons side, not sure what to think as he listened to Toothless’s sobbing but doing his best to comfort him with hugs and rubs across his scales, hating the feeling of them shuddering beneath his efforts in distress. “I… I don’t understand Toothless…” He tried to sound as calm and soothing as possible for his best friend, who refused to look back at him anymore, either staring off into space or closing his eyes after pulling his paws back from atop his own head.

“...It’s… It’s not my _ real fin _, Hiccup…” Toothless spoke again, cryptically, not sure how to articulate how he was feeling to the human. Even after 6 months, and as naturally as the genie’s wish-granting had made speaking come to the dragons, he still struggled to find the right words sometimes.

“Of course it’s your real fin Toothless! It’s made of flesh, blood, and bone, _ just like _ your other one. Who cares if it was wished into existence by magic.” Hiccup took a guess at what the dragon meant and tried to reassure the sad creature, who only shook his head before whimpering and letting it fall to the ground again, his next words almost a whisper.

“_My real one was red…_”

Hiccup froze in place. A million and one guilt ridden thoughts bubbled up from the deepest pits of his mind. Every last one of them showed in his eyes clear as day, and through his silence. Toothless took a moment to tug Hiccup closer with his wing and despite his own emotions, reassure him. “_HICCUP. _ Don’t start blaming yourself! _ Please! _ I can’t _ stand it _ when you blame yourself for things! Even more than I can’t stand this stupid fin anymore!” He pressed his nose against his rider’s chest and rumbled softly to try and comfort him. “I know you spent that wish as a gift for me, and I’m so, so _ SO _ touched by it Hiccup… That you could have whatever you wanted in the world and all you wanted was to give me such a profound gift… I… I love it Hiccup…” The night fury struggled to breathe as he held Hiccup close.

Gods why did this whole thing have to be so complicated. This damn fin was the best gift he could have ever been given, yet also the worst. It was special and yet absolutely awful. As much a gift as it was a curse. He loved it because it was from Hiccup with love, but he hated it because of what it did to him and Hiccup… How on Earth could he possibly explain it all without making Hiccup feel guilty or sad too?

“But even with how much I love it, every time I fly now… I… I feel so _ empty_.” He began again once he regained his breath, even as tears flowed from his eyes. Who knew dragons could cry? Perhaps they always could, Hiccup had just never seen any of them this sad before. “It’s not just that you’re weight isn’t there half the time anymore… Even when you’re there, I feel… It feels _ so wrong _ … Because you’re just a _ passenger _ now… You’re not _ part _of my flying anymore…” Toothless looked back into Hiccup’s eyes and let it all out, everything, not holding anything back.

“That’s what made us _ different _ from all the others, Hiccup. We were special. When we were in the air, we weren’t _ you _ and _ me _ … we were _ US _ . We were _ ONE _ . It didn’t matter if _ I _ decided we needed to turn left, or _ YOU _ decided we needed to turn left. _ WE _ turned left. _ Together _ . We were listening to each other almost like we were in each other’s heads… I-… I’d never felt anything else like it… I’d never been so close to anyone else before, and I know you never were either… Hiccup…” The dragons lips quivered as he pressed close to his best friend. “Hiccup I’d give my tailfin a million times over to feel that close to you again… to be _ one _ with you again… This-…” The dragon pulled his tailfin up to before their eyes, both of them looking at it, but Toothless eyeing it with all the scorn in the world as he continued. “This... _ THING _ . This… _ wonderful, awful, HORRIBLE, NO-GOOD, MOST THOUGHTFULLY AMAZING GIFT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN TO ME!_” He shook it violently as he sobbed and screamed at it in roars so full of rage he feared he might be deafening Hiccup by accident. “_IT’S NOTHING MORE THAN A FIN SHAPED WALL BETWEEN US AND I’M SO SICK TO DEATH OF IT KEEPING US APART HICCUP!! I-... I CAN’T STAND IT FOR ONE MORE MOON-DAMNED DAY!!!_” He slammed his tail down in frustration and dove his head into Hiccup’s chest and lap and sobbed his draconic heart out. "I'd bite it off myself if I didn't feel like I was betraying you by doing so..." He added softly in resignation as his tears rained down into Hiccup's front.

Hiccup knelt by and listened, unable to say anything to comfort his best friend, even if he did have any ideas about what to say, which he didn’t. He tried his best not to feel guilty, and yet his stomach turned over in knots, regretting so much not having asked Toothless first before spending that last wish. Then another terrible thought hit him as he squeezed Toothless’ head tight in his embrace, doing all he could to be there for the night fury as he poured his heart out and clung to his rider like if he let go he’d vanish in a puff of smoke and never return. “You’ve… You’ve been feeling like this the whole time, haven’t you?” Hiccup felt the dragon shudder and tense against him in response, already knowing the answer.

“_I’M SO SORRY HICCUP!_” He cried out as he looked back up again and met his rider’s eyes. The dragon wished he could feel the regret on Hiccup’s behalf, to save the one he loved more than anyone else from the bad feelings. It almost felt like he was doing just that as his own regret over not telling Hiccup sooner washed over him. “I didn’t want to make you feel any regrets! And I know I should keep this fin too, I know all the reasons why! That it means I can still fly even if you’re not there, whether we’re apart or if I ever outlived you somehow; That I don’t need to worry about if we’re ever in trouble mid-flight together, that I can catch you every time if I keep it and I won’t plummet if we’re suddenly separated in mid-air. I _ should _ keep it, for your sake and mine.... ...But I just can’t bear to fly alone anymore without you, Hiccup...”

Hiccup’s only response was to tug Toothless’s head back into his embrace again, letting him feel the heart of his beloved human beating and feel his embrace across his scales, letting him know he was there, and that he would always be there. For a while neither spoke another word. There was nothing more that needed to be said, because Hiccup understood perfectly. He understood because in all honesty, he felt the same exact way. He missed being a part of Toothless's flying, hated merely being carried now like any other piece of cargo. He'd tried shifting his weight to help with turns, repositioning himself in the saddle to modify their flight dynamics, but nothing was a suitable substitute for the fin in the end, no matter what he did. So he started to prefer the ground instead... For the past 3 months or so he'd been flying less and less...

He even understood why Toothless was reluctant for so long to ask Hiccup to help him get rid of it. It was a _gift_, the most precious gift Hiccup could think to give Toothless in that moment after getting his leg back. He had thought it an even exchange, in a moment of blissful forgetfulness and ignorance from being so happy and honored that Toothless would give his wish so that Hiccup could be whole again, forgetting entirely what the red fin meant to Toothless, and to them. Memories of the last time that Hiccup gave Toothless his flight back re-emerged from his memory as he held the dragon close. Their first snoggletog together. How Toothless pulled out what today he'd called his _REAL_ fin and destroyed the new solo fin Hiccup had created right in front of him. How did he ever forget that lesson, when Toothless had made it so clear to him, even long before they could speak to one another? "_I don't want to fly without you..._" He said with his actions alone. He had thought for the past six months that Toothless was ok with it this time, perhaps deceiving himself as much as Toothless was deceiving him to avoid feeling the guilt. But there was no holding that back now. Six months worth of ignoring his best friend's deepest needs... It must have been torture for Toothless... And Hiccup would do anything to make up for it.

He was about to say yes, when he stopped the words on their way from his brain to his mouth just before they reached his tongue. No. He was not going to let himself make another irreparable mistake simply by not thinking things through in a moment of emotion. That was what got them into this whole mess to begin with. So for a while, Hiccup continued to say nothing as he thought things through...

“One week.” Hiccup declared out of nowhere.

“...What?” Toothless pulled his head away slowly and looked up at Hiccup again, confused.

“Give me one week, Toothless. One week to invent some way to give you back a fin that I can control, _without_ having to cut this one off.” Hiccup picked up the new fleshy tailfin in his gentle hands, holding it with care and reverence. “And if I can’t figure something out… _I’ll do it_. I’ll help amputate your tailfin for you.” Hiccup elaborated calmly, seriously, making sure Toothless could tell he meant every word of it as he softly stroked the night furys tailfin in his hands.

Toothless’ guilt suddenly ballooned a hundred-fold as he buried himself into Hiccup’s chest again, wrapping his forepaws around him and closing his eyes tight as he again was short of breath. He couldn’t possibly begin to process everything he was feeling. All the guilt over Hiccup agreeing, all the relief that one way or another in a week’s time he’d be one with Hiccup again, the incredible debt he felt he owed his rider that he could never possibly repay, and the love he had for him that would never ever die. It kept him silent for a solid minute before he finally was able to nod against Hiccup’s chest and agree to the deal with soft words.

“One week…”

* * *

One Week Later

* * *

“You ready bud?” Hiccup rubbed the dragons head from atop his back, a smile on his face and an eagerness in his heart as he watched Toothless turn his head around and smile at him with tears in his eyes. He hadn’t flown at all the past week, voluntarily staying grounded the whole time, never leaving his riders side as he planned and then built and troubleshooted their latest shared design for six whole days with the Night Fury's help.

“_More _ than ready…” Toothless struggled to keep control over his emotions as he turned back to stare over the edge of the cliff, the highest one on Berk, overlooking to gloriously cool and misty sea, the sun rising just over the horizon. The two of them gave one last look back to check on the new tailfin. It’s design was brilliant, just like all Hiccup’s other inventions. All Toothless had to do was keep his one fin folded in, and when he did, it engaged a set of clips that connected the line from the foot-pedal to the bright red fin that otherwise was spring-loaded to stay folded up just above Toothless’ real one. It’d take a little bit to train his muscle memory to fly and keep the one tailfin pulled in, but that he could do, and it was well worth learning to deal with. “Hiccup…”

“Yeah bud?” Hiccup turned back to facing forward, and met the dragon’s eye again.

“Thank you… I-... I love you…” Toothless smiled and gently blushed, admitting it to his rider for the first time.

“I love you too bud. You’re welcome.” Hiccup smiled back, hearing and feeling the content purr resonate through the night fury’s whole body as he spread his wings and ran towards the cliff, the wind against his face and the weight between his wings was like an old friend greeting him again as he dove off the edge. The air caught beneath his wings and he let out his right tailfin, Hiccup unfurling the left one, and once more, they were soaring along together, Toothless’s heart never having felt more whole as he trusted his rider to help keep them aloft again… Hiccup turned the pedal downwards with a knowing smile, they turned left into the open sky.

"H-Hiccup! You-! You did that! That was you!". Toothless gleefully wiggled in the air as the airflow pushed them into the gentle, sweeping turn, looking back at his rider with pure adoration in his eyes.

"No bud." Hiccup countered with a smirk as he's leaned down all the way in the saddle to hug the dragons neck and talk right into his ear. "That was US."


End file.
